Padang ekspres net-TOKYO —The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan in the fiscal year through March slid 8.75% from the preceding year to 14,732, the first decline in four years, a credit research firm said. Liabilities accompanying the corporate failures also decreased 49.09% to 7.14 trillion yen, marking the first fall in three years, Tokyo Shoko Research said.

The number of failures dropped apparently because credit became more readily available for companies due to government stimulus measures and a new law that came into force last year to help out smaller firms, it added. According to Teikoku Databank, another private credit research firm, corporate failures totaled 12,866 in fiscal 2009, down 2.8% from a year before with liabilities tumbling 48.6% to 7.02 trillion yen.